Kennedy’s Fish and Chips, 184-186 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7DT

We first came here during one of the bf’s basketball dinners, with a huge group of people sitting near the back of the restaurant. As it was a Tuesday evening, the restaurant was full of cab drivers all hungry for some dinner. Apparently, it’s really popular with the cab drivers of London and they even have a Cabbie’s Special which includes fish and chips (any sort of fish), bread and butter, and tea during and after the meal. All for a tenner.

But they ran out of bread the day we were there and so we couldn’t have it. Besides, the bf isn’t too keen on tea or coffee, so that pretty much meant just fish and chips – which was what he ordered anyway.

As we’d been here a few times since the first basketball dinner, we took our friends A&D here for lunch today. The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there, but it was 2pm and after the busy lunch serving, so we pretty much had service all to ourselves, and the food came quite quickly too.

Besides fish and chips, they also do pies, and the menu features quite an extensive variety of them.

See, it says so on the wall.

Found it quite apt that the vinegar was named what it was named, really.

Since no meal really feels complete without us sharing something … anything, we decided to order TWO versions of squid to be shared.

(In reality, it’s because A&D were just really envious of my choice of main – grilled squid – and so had to jump on the squid bandwagon). This is the theory anyway. If you’re reading this A&D, you’ll confirm that my squid WAS the best option.

Calamari first. For £3.75, we had about 2 rings each between the four of us. Not the best value for money if you think about it per squid ring, but for a starter, it was alright. The squid was fresh though slightly tasteless, but the batter was good and not too greasy. 

Char-grilled baby squid with garlic butter (£3.95) – the starter version, which is basically a mini version of my gigantic grilled squid (refer below). This was really good, something about the oil they use to grill this with. Not too sure what is in the oil, but from the colour, I’d say something like paprika? Turmeric? Saffron? It tasted quite Italian, anyhow. I know there’s garlic and butter in it (from the name) but that wasn’t the strongest flavours I could taste in the dish.

Yummy chewy squid ring.

The guys’ fish and chips (£8.50) – it’s big and it’s clever. A huge portion of very fresh, flaky, white fish with a crispy batter, served with proper chip shop chips. It took the guys a while to get through this, and I had to step in and offer them some assistance (I eat anything).

D’s venison and red wine pie £7.95 (or was it steak and stilton? She was deciding between the two). The steak was really tender and flavoursome, and the pastry was soft and flaky enough to absorb the meaty taste of the gravy.

The main-sized version of the char-grilled squid with garlic butter (about £8.50?) – envy of everyone who was at the table. I love squid. If I’ve not mentioned this before, I love chewy stuff, and I love squid. If the squid is chewy, I love it even more. This was not only really fresh and chewy (in a fresh way, not in a rubbery way) but it tasted really good. The oil was really flavourful – something Mediterranean, with a nice, grilled taste about it.

The squid came with either mash, chips or salad – just like with the other meals which is good value for money, especially with the generous portion sizes.

We didn’t have any dessert after the meal, but here’s one we had another time – thrown in here for good measure. It’s one of those Belgian waffles from the stalls all down Oxford Street. Decided to try one out, and it was surprisingly good. Really soft on the inside, yet with a chewy bite on it when you first sink your teeth in, and a lovely sugary crunch to before you get to the soft centre. Mmm mm mm.

Would I recommend it? Indeed I would! Brought our friends there so I would definitely recommend that you check Kennedy’s out if you haven’t already done so.

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